"Raina's family is such a pain!" Leli grumbled, annoyed that she'd been assigned to make the cakes for Aria's wedding. "If it weren't for my pride, I wouldn't want to spend my own money on Aria's wedding, especially not to make so many delicious cakes. Ugh, what rotten luck. We were hoping Raina's family would negotiate with us and agree to our request, but we're the ones having a hard time because we have to provide the cakes for their wedding—and for free, too! Ah, I'll just ask Aria to reimburse me after the wedding. At least I'll make a decent amount of money from making all these cakes. I have to think of a new act so my plan will work. Besides, Aria is easy to soften up. He definitely won't have the heart to refuse me if I beg him."
If Aria hadn't been with Raina back then, it would have been much easier for me to borrow money from him because Aria would never ask me to pay him back. Ever since that woman came into Aria's life, everything had changed, especially since my little brother loved Raina so much that he would do anything for her. I used to hope he would never get married, or at least put it off for as long as possible, because Aria wasn't stingy whenever I borrowed money from him. On top of that, he had so many nice things I could take by promising to pay him back in installments—which I never did, and Aria never complained about it. I depended on Aria for so much. He was always there to accompany me to the market, pick up my children from school, and come running whenever there was a problem at home. Raina, on the other hand, was an incredibly difficult woman to deal with. She wasn't just willing to argue with me; she even dared to contradict my mother. It was obvious that Raina would become a problem for our family someday with that stubborn personality of hers. And Aria seemed to agree with everything Raina said without ever arguing with her. Seriously, why did my brother have to choose a wife like her? Fortunately, she had a permanent job with a decent salary. Once she became Aria's wife, I was sure I could borrow a little money from her. Hahaha. I was already imagining having someone else I could depend on in Raina. She also never seemed to demand much from Aria. From what I'd seen, she was hardworking and rarely asked him for help. How nice for her that she wanted to have Aria all to herself. Oh, no, she couldn't do that. I would try every possible way to make sure Aria continued putting his family before his wife. Aria was the only person in my family I could depend on. As for Bima, forget about him helping me. He was incredibly difficult to ask for help, and his house was so far away that he couldn't keep going back and forth to mine just to lend me a hand.
Raina also rarely came to family events. She could have helped by washing dishes at all our gatherings, but that girl was impossible to pin down. She always had an excuse whenever she skipped a family event, and Aria defended that woman too. It made me even more irritated.
Ever since we were little, I was the only older sister Aria loved because I was the one who gave him spending money when he was still in school. Our mother worked odd jobs to support all seven of us children, so I tried to lighten her burden a little by giving Aria pocket money while he was in school. That's why Aria loved me so much and always helped me without ever complaining. As far as Aria was concerned, he could never repay my kindness, no matter how long he lived. But after meeting Raina, my little brother seemed to change a lot. The fact that Aria even intended to marry Raina seemed impossible to me, because I knew he had never had a serious relationship with anyone until he met Raina and brought her to our house to introduce her to me. I felt jealous because my brother would end up listening to his future wife more than his own family.
One afternoon, after Eid al-Fitr two years ago, Aria came to my house with a woman whose name I didn't know. Aria had never brought a woman to our mother's house or mine before, much less introduced one to the family. "Who is this, Aria? You brought someone's daughter to my house without telling me first. Is she your, ahem, future wife?" I asked Aria, putting on a happy expression as though I were thrilled to welcome him into my home, even though I hated seeing this stuck-up pretty girl brought here by Aria.
"Hehehe, yes, Sis. Her name is Raina, and she'll be my future wife. We'll start preparing for our wedding once I've saved enough money. Pray that everything goes smoothly, okay, Sis," Aria replied.
That day, Aria and I talked in the living room with Raina, and I asked her all sorts of questions to learn about her background. I wanted to make sure Aria wouldn't make the wrong choice and burden our family by paying for a wedding to a woman who made a lot of demands.
Raina really was a simple woman who didn't act strangely or overdo things. I could tell from the way she dressed that she wasn't flashy at all. She wore no expensive items, and I might even look better than her when I dressed up to go out. She was friendly and knew how to adapt wherever she was. That was what I saw at our first meeting. No wonder my brother had chosen her as his future wife. Raina simply wasn't the type of woman who went overboard with her makeup or used expensive things. My brother Aria was a simple man too. He never bought clothes just to show off his fashion. He preferred to save his money and buy useful things, like electronics and household equipment. He probably bought new clothes only once a year, for Eid. My brother's tastes weren't extravagant, so he didn't waste money on his appearance. Bima, on the other hand, loved buying expensive things and dressing up. He never bought cheap clothes for himself, his wife, or his child. And since he drove a car, he had to look rich.
Aria was hardworking too, so it made sense that he'd become such a workaholic lately. It turned out he was setting aside his salary for his wedding savings, which meant I was sure to have a hard time borrowing money from him later.
My brother's wedding ceremony was only three days away. Luckily, the ceremony and the reception would be held on separate days, so I still had plenty of time to finish the cakes that would be brought out on the day of the wedding reception. I was giving Raina's family no fewer than 2,000 cakes. My pride demanded that I make it look as though I had no problem making a contribution, even if it was only cakes—and it had already eaten through my savings. I was so upset. It felt like such an unwilling sacrifice, if it weren't for my little brother Aria's happy day.